Hand perforating or like tool primarily for puncturing cattle ears



May 29, 1951 B. G. HORSTMANN HAND PERFORATING 0R LIKE TOOL PRIMARILY FOR PUNCTURING CATTLE EARS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 14, 1949 INVENTOR D Bevan G. Horst'mamm.

Y m TTORNEY May 29, 1951 B. G. HORSTMANN HAND PERFORATING 0R LIKE TOOL PRIMARILY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FOR PUNC'I'URING CATTLE EARS Filed March 14, 1949 INVENTOR 9 9 Bevan G.H0rsi'manw.

BY @KW ATTORNEY Patented May 29, 1951 HAND PERFORATING OR LIKE TOOL PRI- MARILY FOR PUNCTURING CATTLE EARS Bevan G. Horstmann, Marksbury, near Bristol,

England Application March 14, 1949, Serial No. 81,292 In Great Britain April 1, 1948 This invention relates to an improved handoperated perforating or the like tool primarily for puncturing identification marks in the ears of cattle and for other purposes.

With known tools and appliances for marking the ears of cattle the marking is effected by gripping a pair of handles together to close a pair of perforating jaws about an ear and when the marking has been effected it is necessary to move the handles apart as a secondary action to open the jaws before the ear or other article can be released from between the jaws.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a hand-operated perforating tool primarily for puncturing identification marks in the ears of cattle which comprises a pair of operating elements in the nature of handles carrying complementary perforating jaws, said handles and jaws being provided with cooperating means, whereby during the initial movement of the handles toward each other, the jaws will be closed to effect the perforating action and continued movement of the handles due to squeezing them together in the same direction will cause the jaws automatically to open. It will thus be apparent that the present device is of special utility in marking the ears of cattle since this operation may be effected much more quickly and more humanely than is possible by tools of the scissors type heretofore provided for this purpose, because, in the present tool closing of the jaws and their subsequent automatic separation, resulting from one continuous manual operation, namely, a single squeezing operation on the handles of the tool, eliminates the time lag incident to previous tools wherein the handles move apart by a second or reverse action to separate the jaws. Inasmuch as the jaws separate after piercing with a snap action, the closing and opening of the jaws renders a complete action practically instantaneous.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect, reference will now be made to the drawings accompanying the provisional specification which illustrate one embodiment of the invention, by way of example, as applied to pliers for perforating the ears of cattle for identification purposes. In the drawings- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the pliers showing the normal positions of the parts immediately prior to a perforating operation.

Figure 2 is a similar view but showing the perforating jaws closed together, and Figure 3 again is a similar view but showin 9 Claims. (Cl. 128-329) the jaws automatically opened apart to release the article perforated.

Referring to the drawings, the jaws l and 2 are carried respectively by jaw arms 3 and 4 which are mounted at their lower ends on pivot pins 6 and l bridging a bifurcated upper end 8 of a handle 9. The jaw l which for convenience may be termed a hammer jaw is fitted with a plurality of perforating or piercing elements Ii! adapted to penetrate the ear of an animal engaged between the jaws to make an identification mark on the ear and the other or anvil jaw 2 is formed with a series of correspondingly arranged recesses for accepting the piercing points of said elements.

Located between the two jaws i and 2 is an apertured or perforated stripping or ejector plate II which is rigidly secured to the upper end 8 of the handle 9 and which acts, when the jaws move apart, to prevent angular movement of the ear with the jaw l and so disengages the ear from the piercing elements It.

The lower end of the jaw arm a, below the pivot pin 1, is formed with a laterally directed tail portion l2 in which is formed an L-shaped slot which consists of a relatively long curved portion l3 and a short portion 14, the longer portion 13 being concentric with the axis of the pivot pin 1. Slidable in the slot [3, M is a thrust pin l5 which bridges a bifurcated upper end of an operating lever [B which is pivoted between its ends at ll to the upper end of a link It which in turn is pivoted at its lower end to a laterally directed portion 9a of the handle 9 by means of a pivot pin l9.

When the tool is about to be used the various parts are in the positions shown in Figure 1 and the article to be perforated, e. g. the ear of an animal, is located between the jaw 2 and the stripper or ejector plate H. The handle 9 and the operating lever it are then squeezed together in the operators hand and, commencing with the positions of the parts as indicated in Figure l, the axis of the pivot pin I1 is con strain-ed to pass through an arc A- -B struck from the axis of the pivot l9 and the pin I5 is thereby elevated and therefore retained in the the jaw 2 until the jaws are closed together and the article placed between them pierced.

The perforating action is completed when the parts of the tool are in the positions shown in Figure 2 and in this position it will be noted the pin and the two pivots l1 and I9 are located in a straight line CD. Further squeezing together of the operating lever I6 and the handle 9 therefore has the effect of moving the pivot 11 over a dead center and the upward thrusting action of the pin [5 during the preliminary action of the tool is reversed and the pin I5 is moved slightly downwards a distance sufficient to move the pin l5 clear of the elbow 22 of the slot whereupon a coiled tension spring 23 anchored at one end to the handle 9 and at its other end to the tail portion I2 of the jaw arm 4 which has been placed under tension by the closing together of the jaws I and 2, re-asserts itself to swing the jaw 2 smartly in the reverse direction about the pivot I to open the jaws I and 2 apart. During this opening apart of the jaws the pin [5 is accommodated in the longer portion l3 of the L-shaped slot and therefore offers no resistance to the opening movement of the jaw 2 and a second abutment 24 on the jaw arm 4 engages against the other side of the projection 2| on the jaw arm 3 and turns the jaw arm 3 suniciently to ensure withdrawal of the piercing elements from the ear of the animal and through the stripping or ejector plate H whereafter the heavier upper part of the jaw I will swing downwardly by gravity.

In order to-control or limit the amount of movement between the operating lever i6 and the handle 9 it is preferred to provide the link [8 with abutment faces [8a and I8!) respectively at its ends, the abutment face [811 engaging with the operating lever l6 when the pliers are in a position ready for action as in Figure 1 and the abutment face I8b engaging the handle 9 when the pliers are fully open as in Figure 3. Also to limit the outward swinging movement of the jaw I when the two jaws are thrust apart, the jaw arm 3 is formed with a second projection 21a which abuts against the edge of the inner end of the jaw arm 4 when the parts are in their fully extended or open positions as shown in Figure 3.

Although the tool described is primarily concerned with perforatingidentification marks on the ears of cattle, it will be appreciated that it could be readily adapted and used to advantage for other purposes. For example, instead of incorporating piercing elements in one of the jaws, the jaws could be adapted for embossing matter on cardboard, metal or other materials, or, the jaws could be fitted with punches to punch holes, or with cutters for cutting out desired shapes, the embossing, punching or cutting, as the case may be, being effected by the initial squeezing of the handles, or the equivalent together, and the work automatically released by continued squeezing together of said handles.

I claim:

V 1. A hand-operated perforating tool, comprising a main handle element and a lever constituting a second handle element, jaws pivoted to the main handle element and interengaged fo'r' positive and relatively free movement during a single squeezing together of the said handle elements, one of said jaws having an angular slot, a tension spring connecting the jaw having the slot with the main handle, a pin carried by the lever constituting the second handle element and 4 normally resting in a portion of said angular slot, and a link pivotally connecting the medial portion of the lever with the lower end of the main handle, whereby, when the handle elements are squeezed together the pin and the pivots which connect the lever with the main handle will pass dead-center and the pin will slide in another portion of said slot so that the spring which has been previously tensioned by the initial squeezing together of the handle elements reasserts itself to effect opening movement of the interconnected jaws.

2. A perforating tool, comprising, handle means including a main handle and a lever constituting a second handle, a link pivotally connecting the medial portion of the second handle with the lower portion of the main handle, jaws pivoted on the main handle and interengaged for positive closing movement and quick separation, one of said jaws having an angular slot with a short arm and a long arm, a spring for connecting the slotted jaw to the main handle, and a pin on the lever resting in the short arm of the slot until the jaws close and thereafter moving into the long arm of the slot to release the jaws to the action of the spring whereby they are automatically separated.

3. A hand-operated perforating or like tool, comprising, an operating handle, a pair of com plementary perforating jaws mounted on sepa rate pivot pins on the end of said handle, an operating lever constituting a second handle, a pivotal connection between said second handle and the first handle, a displaceable pivotal conmotion between said second handle and one of the jaws, said jaws interengaging for effecting closing of both jaws when the second handle is squeezed toward the first handle, and means for re-opening said jaws automatically after they have been fully closed and a piercing operation effected, said means including relative displacement of said pivotal connection between said second handle and one of the jaws to permit said re-opening movement.

4. A hand-operated perforating tool, comprising, a main handle, a pair of jaws pivoted on the handle for rocking movement toward and from each other, cooperating elements on the jaws radial to said pivots respectively for caus ing one jaw to move the other toward closing position and limiting the angular movement of the jaws in fully open position, a tail portion formed on one of said jaws having an angular slot including a short arm and a long arm, a pin in said slot, a spring for tensioning the tail portion to the main handle, a lever constituting a second handle carried by said pin, and a link pivotally connecting the medial portion of the lever with the lower end of the main handle, said pin normally lying in the short arm of the angular slot for effecting initial closing movement of the jaws when the main handle and lever are squeezed together until the pivot con necting the link with the lever passes dead-center whereupon the pin rides into the long arm of the slot and the spring rocks the jaw with the tail member to full open position and one of the cooperating elements on the jaw having the tail member releases the opposite jaw to fully open position.

5. A hand-operated perforating tool, comprising, a main handle, a pair of complementary jaws pivoted to said handle for rocking movement toward and from each other, a pair of spaced abutments on one jaw, a projection for cooperating therewith on the other jaw, one of the abutments engaging the projection to close the jaws and the other of said abutments engaging the opposite side of the projection to snap the jaw having the projection to open position, a stop projection on the jaw having the firstmentioned projection for engaging the opposite jaw when the jaw having the first projection is fully opened, spring means for biasing the jaws to open position, a lever having a pin and slot connection with the jaw provided with the abutments, and a link connecting the medial portion of the lever with the lower end of the main handle.

6. A hand-operated perforating tool, comprising, a pair of operating handles, perforating jaws rockably carried by fixed pivots on one of said handles, a stripper plate between the jaws, one of said jaws having an angular slot, a pin carried by one of the handles and operating in said angular slot, a link pivotally connecting said lever and handle, and spring means for biasing the jaws to open position.

7. A hand-operated perforating tool, comprising, a main handle, an anvil jaw having a tail portion provided with an angular slot and pivotally supported on the main handle, said jaw also having a pair of spaced abutments on one edge, a hammer jaw having a projection co-operating with said abutments, a spring connecting the anvil jaw to the main handle for normally biasing the anvil jaw to open position, and lever and link means, the lever constituting a second handle and the link pivotally connecting the lever with the main handle, and a pin carried by the upper end of the lever and operating in said angular slot.

8. A hand-operated perforating tool, comprising, a main operating handle and a lever constituting a second handle pivotally linked thereto, an anvil jaw having an angular slot and pivoted to the main handle, said slot including a short arm and a long arm, a hammer jaw also pivoted to the main handle and having perforating elements thereon, said hammer jaw interconnected with the anvil jaw for opening and closing movement, a pin carried by the upper end of the lever and normally resting in the short arm of the slot, and spring means for tensioning the anvil jaw to the main handle, whereby, when the handles are initially squeezed together the spring will be stretched and the continued squeezing of the handles will cause the pin to ride from the short arm into the long arm of the slot and the interconnected jaws will snap open as the stretched spring tends to contract.

9. A hand-operated perforating or the like tool comprising in combination a pair of operating handles, a pair of cooperating jaws pivoted on one handle, a releasable operating connection between the other handle and one of said jaws, means for maintaining said operating connection to close said jaws when the handles are initially squeezed together, and means including a spring to cause said jaws to open when upon finally squeezing said handles together said operating connection is broken.

BEVAN G. HORSTMANN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,489,558 Timson Apr. 8, 1924 2,285,683 Seashore June 9, 1942 2,411,944 Stone Dec. 3, 1946 2,496,309 Pugh Feb. '7, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 633,742 Germany Aug. 5, 1936 

